


fear

by queenofcawdor (orphan_account)



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU, The Flash - All Media Types, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, it's a mess, scriddler raises wally, someone else raises wally!au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-28
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-10 00:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5562325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/queenofcawdor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I make your hands sweat, and your heart grow cold,<br/>I visit the weak, but seldom the bold.<br/>What am I?</p><p>scriddler raises wally west. it's a disaster, and wally's morality takes a serious dip.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. kiss

**Author's Note:**

> chapter title is answer for the riddle:  
> "I am just two and two. I am hot. I am cold.  
> I’m the parent of numbers that cannot be told.  
> I’m a gift beyond measure, a matter of course,  
> And I’m yielded with pleasure- then taken by force."
> 
> yeah this is a mess. will probably update soon if school doesn't bite me in half and chew me slowly again.

Jonathan finds the idea of love to be tedious and overly emotional. He prefers the most primal aspects of humanity: fear. Lust, he finds, while certainly primal, is far too …loathsome. 

 

Jonathan Crane, pre med student, can use his beautiful eyes and imposing height to get what he wants. But, he finds, sex is hardly enjoyable with fawning classmates. He prefers imagining a genius like him. Jonathan hopes to study a genius’s psyche and shred it. 

 

He is sadistic, yes. He itches to put his fingers into a soul and rip it apart. He wants to fray a mind into strings, soak a psyche in pain, and reweave it for his own whims. Jonathan Crane is sadistic, narcissistic, and a schizophrenic with an exceptionally blunted affect. He has diagnosed this enough in others to recognize it in himself. But--his emotional responses are stunted, not entirely blocked. His empathy is existent; he sympathizes to an extent. He chooses to ignore any chipping of guilt in favor of his own desire to watch people's fears play on their faces. Jonathan Crane is not anti-social, sociopathic, nor ‘has the devil in him’ as his granny often shrieked. This does not keep him from being a very bad man.

 

Years later, license revoked, the newly named Scarecrow sees a masked man leave riddles around Gotham with destruction, and he smirks as Batman and his tag-a-long  try to decipher them. Riddler. Pff. Despite himself, Crane can’t help but feel impressed. It is rare for him to feel anything, anymore. In his barely thirty years Crane has risen from the ashes of his childhood abuse to being the premier psychiatrist in Gotham, and the Scarecrow has come into prominence in a new field. 

 

Then the Riddler interrupts one of his...supply runs. He is even younger than Crane, perhaps in his mid-twenties, a brat with red hair, perfect jawline, and potential color-blindness given the garish outfit.. Crane can’t decide if he wants to fight or fuck him, but between the mocking and that mouth-- his choice is made. He sighs and forces emotions behind his eyes again.

 

Before Jonathan can fill a syringe with toxin to, ah, introduce himself, he is interrupted again. At least he can tolerate Jervis--the Hatter is easy to destroy and smart enough to make it somewhat of a challenge. 

 

Mentally muttering one of his songs to Jonathan, Scarecrow notes how Tetch is the third genius in this group of fools.  

“ _ Three wise men of Gotham, _

_ They went to sea in a bowl, _

_ And if the bowl had been stronger, _

_ My song had been longer” _

Twitching, Jonathan introduces himself to the Riddler, who responds in an improvised riddle. Typical.

 

“Riddle me this! Crimson locks and verdant clothes, my mind is open, never closed, and with a twist of my cleverness, I turn this town into a mess. What am I?” 

 

Obviously him. Riddler needs to think up better riddles on the spot if he wants to keep such an outlandishly themed name. His little puzzle puts Jervis into a mood. In a bad stretch, the inventor names characters that Crane had forgotten from  _ Wonderland. _

_ - _

It’s two months later, when Edward Nygma (no longer Riddler to Jonathan. The idiotic title is far too complementary) and Jonathan Crane are forced to share a room in Arkham. Shortly after (roughly five days), Jonathan caves in to that dark  little side of him and shuts Edward up. Pins him, watches his wriggling like Prufrock, to a wall, and dissects his childhood, his abuse.

 

“Stop doing that. Crane, Crane you bastard.” Edward stares up at him, angry, not quite crying but flush-faced and breathing hard.

 

“This lesson of honesty--evidently beaten into you by your father--forces you to leave clues to your crimes. Otherwise, they’d be unsolvable, but you crave that attention, don’t you? You want to outsmart everyone. Give them a chance, no matter how slim, and watch them fall. Have their own stupidity create their demise. Have you succeeded, Edward? You are stuck in this cage, against this wall, in your mind. Evidently, you haven’t.” Jonathan’s blue, blue eyes dilate fully to black. His smooth (Dixie smooth, like the bourbon Crane started drinking too young in Georgia) voice turns somewhat raspy at the shivering, flushing sight in front of him. “The Batman may have wings, but he is no Icarus, and you are no Sun, Mr. Nygma.”

 

(jonathan crane has never needed anything more than his words to kill someone. he has talked men into suicide) 

 

Edward just wants to _shut_ _ him up _ . Yes, he enjoys that someone as brilliant as Dr. Crane has been watching him with those blue eyes. Edward Nygma never turns away attention. But...no one insults Eddie Nygma like that. He is the smartest man in Gotham. Yes, he knows he has...issues with leaving clues, but he is the only one (of the Rogues, at least) to figure out who is under Batman’s mask without being told. So Jonathan Crane needs to  _ shut the hell  _ up before...before Edward makes him. 

 

Pinned to the wall by a tall man not strong enough to hold him, Edward easily makes up his pained mind. Flips Crane around, presses him hard against the damp Arkham wall, stands on the edges of his feet, and kisses him, ruthlessly. 

 

Crane leans into it, then moves to Nygma’s jawline. Presses teeth into skin, lets it bloom, darken with color. To collarbone, to the beginnings of a broad chest..! Nygma pants, keens, groans. Crane looks into those desperate green eyes and feels the flicker of that dreaded thing called lust burn into a full flame. 

 

Lust, Jonathan decides, is not horrible. Not if it leads to--green-eyed red-heads with wicked smarts pushing him onto a cheap Arkham issue bed. Bruises with more than pain associated. A soft reminder to Jonathan Crane that he is more human than Scarecrow. A gentle wake up to a gentle kiss to a volatile breakfast with a volatile partner. Having a prominent Rogue (other than himself) verbally eviscerate uppity lesser Rogues (Zsasz is the only major in Arkham besides them, and not even Crane is fearless enough to piss him off). Smoothly breaking out of Arkham. Reaching a hideout of Riddler’s. Pressing him into a bed this time. Planning a heist together over breakfast the next morning.

-

It lasts longer than Crane ever expected. Sure, he immediately knew Edward was pretty, but he figured the Riddler would bore of his gawky body. It would be a loss, though not intolerable: Jonathan had survived before Edward. Nygma and Crane stay together, often fighting with and against each other. 

 

A little over two years and Edward proposes. In a thrice damned riddle, no less. Not a year later, they are married by a unimpressed Presbyterian preacher  who uses her considerable Biblical knowledge, strong Scottish accent, and unique deadpan to cow her rowdy grooms-to-be and their criminal, eclectic attendees into quiet for the duration of the ceremony. It is a lovely ceremony. Edward had bribed Poison Ivy into providing the decor by allowing an excited Harley Quinn to be Maid of Honor. An anonymous person leaves a copy of the wedding video on the front steps of Wayne Manor.

 

All in all, Jonathan is in his young thirties, Eddie is reaching them, and then--

 

Edward Nashton (his secret civilian I.D.) needs to adopt his little nephew Wally West.

 

“Edward, who is this brat again?”

 

“Shut up, Johnny. He’s my nephew on my sister’s side. His other aunt and uncle are too busy, and my official identity still has us related legally. So yes, we are taking a child. At least he’s related to  _ me _ .” Edward points exaggeratedly at his head. 

 

“Edward,” Jonathan folds his reading glasses and tucks them into his shirt pocket. “I am not a caring type. I am not a parenting type. Why?”

 

“Just come with me. Wear the blue suit to the pickup meeting. Makes you resemble something healthy.” Affronted, Jonathan complies. 

 

Within moments of meeting Wallace Rudolph West, Jonathan Crane sees why even the Riddler and Scarecrow would be preferable parents to--well, Rudolph West. Crane sighs and decides not to use fear toxin on the brat. It would make Edward too--emotional. Reminders of his father’s abuse often do.

 

“You look familiar. Do you like the Flash?” Crane reconsiders his softened opinion of the brat.

 

“No.”

 

The kid flounders. “But...but...he’s great! And he doesn’t interrogate like your stupid Gotham Batman does! One time, he got someone to turn himself in, no violence needed!”

 

Edward interrupts quickly, ending the train of thought before Jonathan bursts a vein. “Do you look forward to living with us?”

 

“Do you have any chemistry sets? My Uncle Barry got me interested.”

 

Crane feels a flicker of his resentment fade. “Yes. In fact, I have a whole collection. I majored in chemistry, in fact.”

 

He isn’t smiling at the brat’s excitement. He is a god of fear and---well, the kid is related to Eddie. He turns up a corner of his lip in a fractured smile. Listens to the rambling.

 

“I have to tell Hartley about this! He says he loves all types of science, but can you keep a secret? I think he likes physics best! He was deaf until his parents did somethin’ mean to him but now he loves designing sonic tech.” The inability to shut up must be genetic. Wally shares the hair and eye color and intelligent rambling of Eddie, but the resemblance ends with the dark skin of his father and fine features of his Aunt Iris (lovely Aunt Iris, of course, is far preferable to her half brother). “I told him he could visit me whenever in Gotham, is that okay?”

 

Before Edward or Jonathan could answer, he has them grabbed in a hug. “This is going to be great! Can I go to Gotham Academy? My uncle--not you, Uncle Eddie--was tellin’ me about it. They have a lot of rich people there! Are you guys rich?”

 

Edward Nygma, the Riddler, Prince of Puzzles, Grown-Ass-Man-with-a-Question-Mark-cane, Asker of Questions, can’t keep up with Wally’s frantic askings. Jonathan can’t help but find it amusing.

 

With that, Wally West is accepted and adopted into the Crane-Nygma home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally gets some additional parenting from another disgraced psychotherapist and gets the shock of his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> answer for last riddle was electricity/lightning. this is a short chapter, but i am extremely busy, sorry! I will hopefully update next week.

Their love is inevitable and unavoidable. Pamela Isley knows this, knows it like the ecstasy of chlorophyll in sunlight, like a breathy sigh of oxygen, like a thorn hidden in petals. 

Harleen Quinzel does not believe Pamela-Poison Ivy- _ Red _ . Harley is a brilliant woman of simple wisdom. No one can complete another person naturally. Harley knows she had to be molded into Harley Quinn by Joker, even if she was the one to lay out the molds. And--even that was not enough. He’s exciting to be with, reckless, chaotic,  _ thrilling _ . But Joker has nearly killed Harley many times. Her mama didn’t raise her to take such treatment. 

She didn’t graduate valedictorian for this. And she won’t take it again! Red has anger problems. Harley is not risking it. Not one bit. Even if Red has beautiful hair flowing by her ethereal face, and she has an strangely attractive grey-green skin tone, and Red has eyes like a Lantern--glowing, powerful green. Even then. Harley might risk it--later. Later, when the red and green she is used to does not come from stained lips and manic hair.

In any case, Harley’s room at Pamela’s is free when Dr. Jonathan Crane, redacted M.D., and Edward Nygma are imprisoned together, leaving one Wally West without a home. Until Harley Quinn finds him, curled up in a question mark-covered blanket. Takes him to the warmest, safest space she can find: Red’s greenhouse. Ivy is currently at Arkham, and Harley is frequently out, so Wally has just about unlimited reign of the chemistry labs in the glass mansion.

Wally likes this. While he misses watching over Uncle Jonathan’s shoulder as he mixed toxin and passing Uncle Eddie tools to build his traps, the pure freedom of this is enthralling.

In somewhat of a daze, Wally ignores the storm building overhead as he mixes the chemicals Flash told him about all those months ago.

He notices the rain beating down on the roof of the greenhouse, but the beginnings of a bubbling in the test tube in front of him refocuses him.

It’s then that the lightning crashes into him and knocking his mixture into him. The last sensation Wally feels is the terrifying hum of electricity in his body. 

He wakes up to Uncle Eddie resting by his side and Uncle Jonathan watching the other Rogue intently, if not affectionately. 

Wally speaks, voice raspy, “What happened? All I remember was--lightning.”

Uncle Jonathan, glancing at him for a moment before returning his gaze to Eddie, says in a low voice, “You’ve been out for the past two weeks. As soon as we heard, we broke out. Edward was awake for the past six days trying to figure out how to wake you. I knocked him out when he tried to keep going. Don’t wake him.”

“That’s...sweet of him,” Wally says. He tries to stand, and he finds himself on the other side of the room in a quarter of a second.

That gets Uncle Jonathan’s attention. “Come here, Wally.” Wally carefully walks over to his uncle. “How fast do you think you are going right now?”

“I’m walking, so I guess about 2 miles per hour?” Wally replies, wondering at the question.

Uncle Jonathan pushes his glasses up. “No. You were travelling much, much faster. Once Edward awakens, I will have him build a speedometer for you to test exactly how fast. I know the Bat does not like metahumans, as you seem to be, but do not worry about that. Harley kept you successfully secret.”

“Why are you so calm? I--I don’t really know what’s going on, Da--Uncle Jon.” Wally paces, wearing the ground beneath him down. Uncle Jon holds out an arm and catches him.

“Do you know why exactly Edward was so frantic?” Wally shakes his head no. “Your heart seemed to be stopping constantly until I tried monitoring it differently. Edward wasn’t convinced I was right. He was certain you could die in a coma. Your heart is going much faster--heart attack fast on a non-meta. Your metabolism has greatly increased its need for calories. Most conclusive was that last run.”

Whenever Uncle Jonathan’s voice goes cold and analytic (or rather, stays cold and analytic), Wally feels a smidge of fear and pride in his spine. This means-- _ holy cow, Wally was a speedster! _

“Also, Wally, as Edward and John Nashton we have entered you into Gotham Academy. While we...enjoy homeschooling you, in this upcoming year you will attend. You might not survive another incident of this nature. Edward would be inconsolable.”

Wally tried to blink away his shock. He tried again. Gotham Academy--the school for Gotham’s wealthy and occasionally scholarly. Wally was looking forwards to this. He was only ten and less than a year ago his dad tried to break him. Since then, he’s learned so much, but he’s still so scared. Chemistry and physics come naturally to him. People? Not so much.

Uncle Edward jumps awake suddenly, furious, distracting Wally as he shakes a green-gloved fist at Uncle Jon, before noticing the confused red head next to the Scarecrow. “Wally! You’re awake! Give me a moment, dear, I have something to tell your other uncle." 

Jonathan accepts whatever rant he is going to receive from the handsome brat he married, if sardonically. "Yes, dear?" 

"You send a scream through the house and pray for your release; you hope for union above all else, and you frequent trips to Greece; sometimes I love you, sometimes I hate, but unfortunately for me, you're part of what I date. What are you, Jonny?”

Uncle Jonathan sighs and pushes his glasses up his nose. “A dick. Now, go and get the car, Edward.”

“Hmmph! I’m taking Wally with me. Knocking me out! Not telling me Wally woke up! What a disgrace of a husband!” Feared Gotham villain Edward Nygma hoists Wally onto his shoulder and carries him to the parking lot. Jonathan rolls his eyes and hands the two gas masks.

He had sacrificed watching the screaming hospital staff react to his fear toxin to keep Wally secret. A touch of aggression on the way out should keep the Bat occupied long enough for their escape. No way in hell would he sign Wally's medical secrets over to a hospital. Once he spots Edward and Wally in the elevator, their gas masks on, he lights a cigarette. Hopefully his toxin was not diluted in the sprinkler water supply--ah. Screams are lovely. Jonathan Crane strolls to the stairs and slides his way down, listening to the terror on each floor. 

He enters the parking lot to see Edward already pulled up in his car, leaning on the horn. Strolls and straps himself in, and then--Jonathan's  _family_  floors its escape vehicle outside the hospital and into the darkness of night.


	3. love me, kill me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wally becomes his own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm sorry for how bad this is. Exams are coming up.

Wally bounces on his uncles’ bed. “Wake up! Wake up! It’s the first day of school! Real school! C’mon--”

His voice cuts off as Uncle Jonathan grabs him by the shirt and stands up, groaning. Wally had no idea if the man ever slept, so his surprise shut him up in wonder.

Uncle Jonathan rubs his eyes and says, “We understand. Are you ready? I will make Edward give you some breakfast.”

“I’m really ready! I got ready in just a second!” Wally says excitedly, waving a stopwatch in front of his uncle’s face. Uncle Eddie sits up beside the two, shaking his head and removing his sleeping mask.

“Your speed is improving. This weekend, Arkham permitting, I will show you how to fight with a scythe.” Jonathan replies, impressed despite himself. While he has decided to allow his affections for Edward and Wally to grow, it still surprises him how little he wants to remove their faces and revel in their screams. And he does enjoy Edward’s screams.

Eddie rolls out of bed, grumbling and groaning, to prepare breakfast. “Remember Wally: don’t ever show your speed unless it is a last resort. You need to be able to fight well without it.”

Wally nods, distractedly. Edward packs him a lunch and gives him some money. “Don’t draw attention to your home life. Your name is Wallace Nashton, you are almost eleven, and you have placed into ninth grade classes. Please be careful. We have a health exemption for you in your P.E. classes”

During lunch, Wally meets Dick Grayson, who is hilarious despite his snobbish appearance. His attempts at flirting with Dick’s friend Barbara Gordon go miserably, but at least the two become his friends. Wally has missed Hartley these past few months.

===

In the past three years, Dick and Wally have become best friends, and Robin and Kid Conundrum mortal enemies (who meet up for Pokemon battle related truces). Robin isn’t sure how Kid Conundrum always escapes with his mentors Scarecrow and Riddler without being seen, but the Boy Wonder is working on it. Kid Conundrum--KC--has the lamest riddles Robin has heard, but his traps are as confusing as his mentor’s.

Wally West is fourteen, his uncle Eddie gets weird about the name of one of his best friends, and his alter-ego has to put up with the the foundation of two new groups. His uncles are interested in something called the Light, and Robin is called into a new team for sidekicks of the Justice League. Young Justice, or something. 

All of this distracts Wally. He doesn’t enjoy stealing, and he certainly refuses to kill anyone. Wally starts using his share of illegal gains to feed the street kids of Gotham. He doesn’t notice Robin’s surveillance of this; his strange guilt weighing over his senses.

Kid Conundrum wears a sleek red suit made of a breathable fabric with a yellow tie littered with question marks. He carries a collapsible scythe. He’s a composite of his uncles and something all his own. That something is what makes him buy pounds of sandwiches each night and hand them out to other kids. It’s what gets him pats on the head from a woman his uncles despise, Miss Selina Kyle. It’s what makes him stay with his uncles despite his growing distaste for their work. 

It is, ultimately, what gets him noticed by the Justice League. Wally cares about the emotions of others like his family  _ doesn’t _ . Jonathan loves them, in his own way, but his love does not protect them from Scarecrow. Edward loves his family as well, but not in the same way he loves himself. Wally loves his family more than anything. More than stealing, tricking, more than the feeling of wind in his curls and ground under his feet.

So when the Riddler and Scarecrow join the Light, Wally is--upset. The Light appears ready to destroy the world around him. The more Wally learns from his uncles, the more he quietly rages.

Wally needs help with this. He is at the age for teenage rebellion, so he dresses in his suit and stands, the wind of the deep night blowing off his hat, by the now awake Bat-Signal, and waits. 

“Kid Conundrum. What is it?” Deep voice in front of him, edged with a growl and a dash of frustration. 

Wally steadies himself. “Bats--Batman. I need to talk to you. I’m concerned about my ---Riddler and Scarecrow.”

“What’s wrong.” It is not a question but a command.

“They’ve gotten too deep into something, and I--I don’t think I can get them out safely. Can we go somewhere more secure? You can blindfold me.”

Batman sighs, and he grabs Wally by the wrist. Covers his eyes and finds a Zeta-Tube. Wally opens his eyes to see the inside of--a base? The place smells faintly of the sea, and he sees the faces of Robin’s new team. Superboy, Miss Martian, Aqualad, Zatanna, Artemis, and Robin are sitting in the room, staring open mouthed at the Dark Knight and his companion.

“We have some information everyone, relating, presumably, to the Injustice League. Robin, handle introductions. I have research to do.” Batman handcuffs Wally with his damned bat-cuffs and takes his leave.

“Who is this, Robin?” Miss Martian asks.

Robin, still somewhat in shock, replies, “This is Kid Conundrum. One of my Rogues. He’s a sidekick to Riddler and sometimes Scarecrow.”

“Dude! I’m not a sidekick. I’m their son!” Wally replies, irritated. He forgets to refer to himself as a nephew. He has long since stopped feeling like one.

Robin pauses, “Riddler and Scarecrow are together? And have a son?”

“How long have you been under a rock? It’s been years!”

“Whatever,” Robin says, embarrassed. “He’s a villain. I don’t know why Batman brought him here.”

Wally breathes, once, twice. His heart is heavy with the betrayal he is about to commit. He looks down, fiddles with his sleeves, says, “Because I’m nervous for my family. They are good parents. And they are sinking into something too deep. It’s called the Light, and there is someone among you that you cannot trust.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. Wally is profoundly good, but he is somewhat darkened by his home.

**Author's Note:**

> riddle is the hint for next chapter bc i love classic riddles sorry:  
> "I drift forever with the current down these long canals they’ve made,  
> Tame, yet wild, I run elusive, multitasking to your aid.  
> Before I came, the world was darker, colder, and sometimes rougher, true  
> But do not forget: though I make living easy, I kill people too."


End file.
